Inland Homes gets planning consent for Gardiners Park Village

Brownfield developer and housebuilder Inland Homes has received planning consent, further to the signing of a section 106 agreement, at Gardiners Park Village in Basildon, it announced on Tuesday.

The AIM-traded firm said the consent followed the resolution to grant planning permission for the site, subject to the signing of a section 106 agreement, announced in May.

It said the consent would enable the delivery of up to 700 new homes, together with 25,000 square metres of commercial space, and new school and community facilities.

The estimated gross development value of the 54-acre site was in excess of £200m.

In total, the scheme would deliver 31% affordable housing, and was being delivered through a public-private partnership approach with Homes England, the government body charged with accelerating housing delivery.

Inland Homes signed a development agreement with Homes England, which has a majority interest in the site, in April last year, and would acquire the land in phases over a five-year period.

Construction of the first phase with detailed planning consent, comprising 74 homes, was expected to commence in early 2022.

“Inland Homes has once again demonstrated its skill and tenacity in securing planning consent on complex challenging sites to deliver the much-needed homes England needs,” said chief executive officer Stephen Wicks.

“The granting of this planning consent at Gardiners Park Village means we can now begin to transform what has been a vacant, brownfield site for the past 40 years, into a thriving new community with 700 homes, of which nearly one third will be delivered as affordable.

“We look forward to continuing to work with Homes England in the delivery of this important scheme.”

At 0918 BST, shares in Inland Homes were up 1.98% at 46.4p.